Leading off today: Small-school soccer in Central New York has taken a bit of a beating in the past five days with a pair of schools canceling their boys varsity seasons due to low player turnouts, but there's even worse news elsewhere.
South Lewis has dropped both varsity and JV soccer this fall, Falcons AD Brian Oaks told The Post-Standard.
"We started practice the first two days without enough players and had to make that difficult decision last Tuesday," Oaks said in an email.
Sauquoit Valley officials made their decision to drop soccer last Friday.
Meanwhile, Mike Zacchio at The Journal News tweeted out disappointing news from Section 1 schools Tuesday afternoon:
Capping a day of disappointing news, Elmira Notre Dame became the second football program in a week to announce it will have to forfeit its opener due to a lack of eligible players. Andrew Legare of the Star-Gazette tweeted Tioga is searching for a Week 1 replacement after Notre Dame announced it would only have 14 players (two short of the minimum) available.
Shortly afterward, Pete Tobey at The Post-Star reported Fort Edward became the third team to forfeit based on low numbers. The opener was supposed to be Sept. 7 vs. Bishop Gibbons.
Coach disciplined: Florida high school football coach Mike Guandolo has been suspended for two weeks after video of him slapping his quarterback in the helmet during an ESPN-televised game went viral.
Cypress Bay was trailing American Heritage 14-7 in the second quarter of a 38-14 loss Sunday when Lucas Tellefsen overthrew a receiver on third down. As Tellefsen came to the sideline, he was confronted by three coaches, and after a short discussion, Guandolo made contact with Tellefsen’s helmet as he walked away in what the coach later said was a misguided attempt to fire up the player.
Broward County Schools on Monday announced Guandolo was suspended for three days of work as a physical education teacher and two weeks of sports activities. It’s unknown whether Guandolo could face further punishment, but the player's father said he does not want to see any further sanctions levied.
"It’s a non-issue," Eric Tellefsen told The Sun-Sentinel. "We’re 110 percent fine with this. We don’t want anything to happen to Coach G. He means the world to the school and this football team and he wants nothing but the best for these kids. It’s an unfortunate circumstance."
Shortly after striking the player, Guandolo can be seen
